Spoiler Alert: Philly Center City Tops List as Most Bikeable Downtown

Who would have known: Gritty and often gorgeous center city Philadelphia has a new moniker — most biakeable downtown.

In honor of Bike to Work Week, several companies joined to compile a ranking of the 10 most bikeable downtowns in the nation among cities with populations over 500,000.  According to the principal sponsor, Redfin, “analysts asked local real estate agents and city officials to weigh in on bikeability as an increasingly common consideration of residents and homebuyers.”

The envelop please. With a Bike Score of 96.4, Center City West in Philadelphia is the most bikeable downtown neighborhood in the U.S.

Top 10 Most Bikeable Downtowns include:

1. Center City West, Philadelphia, Pa. – 96.4

2. El Presidio, Tucson, Ariz. – 95.8

3. Downtown, Austin, Texas – 93.4

4. Downtown, Denver, Colo. – 92.6

5. Downtown, Portland, Ore. – 92.3

6. Old Louisville, Louisville, Ky. – 89.9

7. Downtown, Washington, D.C. 88.2

8. Downtown, San Jose, Calif. – 87.3

9. Downtown, Indianapolis, Ind. – 86.7

10. The Loop, Chicago, Ill. – 84.2

Here’s what’s pretty cool: City leaders in Philadelphia have worked over recent years to increase the number of bike lanes running through downtown and expand the city’s Indego bike share program. As the bike network grows, safety continues to be a concern as well as an increasing priority for bicyclists and governments in Philadelphia and elsewhere across the country.

Bike fatalities decreased by 25 percent in Philadelphia from 2010 to 2014, and education has been a big part of that, according to Clarena Tolson, Philadelphia’s Deputy Managing Director for Transportation and Infrastructure.

“One of the keys to bicyclist safety has been greater education and appreciation for bicyclists as people who deserve to share the road, so we’ve made that a focus,” said Tolson.

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